Creating a Traffic Free City

New Yorkers are accustomed to the traffic that crowds our city streets and the rush hour congestion on all the buses and subways. But in the past few years, large cities around the world have decided to change this through the implementation of congestion pricing: taxing cars to use congested city streets.

According to The New York Times, the traffic in NYC has only gotten worse over the past few years. In 2013, the average vehicle speed in Midtown was 6.5 mph, but now it’s down to 4.7 mph, which is only faster than a human can walk by less than a mile per hour. These numbers point to an increase of cars in the city and show how in a city dominated by the MTA, cars still play a large role in the commutes and lives of many New Yorkers.

Unfortunately, this traffic not only increases congestion, but contributes to the pollution of our city’s air. According to Columbia University’s Earth Institute, most neighborhoods in New York City―especially Midtown and Manhattan―do not meet World Health Organization standards for annual PM 2.5, which measures the amount of small particles in the air caused by vehicle exhaust, fuel combustion, and more.

Even worse, according to Columbia, “The city recently estimated that up to 2,700 premature deaths a year could be attributed to fine particulate matter and ozone in the air.” In context, that number is eight times higher than the murder rate in NYC. Perhaps what is most surprising about traffic in NYC, though, is how simply it can be fixed, and yet how politically complicated it is to fix.

Currently, there are no tolls for cars driving in the city, though many of our bridges and tunnels may be tolled. Anyone who wants to, whether it be an Uber driver, a taxi driver, or a regular commuter, can drive their car free of charge in New York City. In other places around the world, such as London, this basic freedom to ride for free doesn’t exist, and that is because of what is called “congestion pricing.”

Congestion pricing is the concept that you must pay a fee to drive your vehicle in certain areas of the city. Its basic premise is to reduce congestion, traffic, and pollution while also raising money the government can use on other projects, such as public transportation. Congestion pricing is not uncommon, nor unfeasable, with modern technologies such as E-ZPass allowing for the seamless charging of tolls on cars entering certain city areas. There are also technologies that can photograph license plates and send bills in the mail, and there is always the possibility of drivers paying in advance for use of city streets. Cities such as London, Stockholm, Singapore, and Milan all have adaptations of these systems, though New York has yet to take part.

Currently Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo strongly oppose congestion pricing, even though they understand its benefits and uses. When discussing plans to reduce congestion and pollution in the city, they choose to avoid congestion pricing in favor of other, more publicly supported plans.

In the short term, advocating for congestion pricing would be unpopular for Cuomo and de Blasio, and could hamper their careers. While congestion pricing has only brought benefits to cities around the world, in a country that values personal liberties, removing the freedom to drive for free can seem threatening. De Blasio is currently calling for increased taxes on the wealthy for subway improvements, though this won’t affect our city streets.

Cuomo is advocating for only ride-hailing companies such as Lyft and Uber to pay fees for access to the city. This follows the same logic as congestion pricing, but by only being applied to ride-hailing companies, it will actually have an opposite effect. As Lyft and Uber are forced to pay to access the city, their prices will rise, which will only discourage their consumers from using the service. Regular commuters who depend on ride-hailing companies could easily decide to purchase their own cars, which would only add to the congestion and pollution trying to be prevented in the first place. Rather than decreasing traffic and pollution, Cuomo’s plan to charge ride-hailing companies for access to city streets only promotes congestion.

The concept of congestion pricing is inextricably linked to the concept of supply and demand. The “supply” is our city streets, highways, and roads, and the “demand” is all of the people who wish to drive their cars on them.

Rather than changing the supply (improving, renovating, and enlarging streets), which is extremely costly and difficult, congestion pricing aims to affect the demand for our streets. When people must pay for the commodities they use, they become a lot more aware of how frequently they use them, and of the cost of such use. Under congestion pricing, people―out of their own self-interest―become aware of the invisible cost their driving has had on the city all along: pollution, environmental degradation, traffic, and delays. Congestion pricing effectively limits street use and all of its negative aspects, and there is absolutely no cost whatsoever to the government. In fact, the revenue earned can contribute to improving more sustainable transportation infrastructure, such as the MTA. Congestion pricing can thus end problems of congestion and pollution all while funding better alternatives.

In London, for example, congestion pricing was applied to the city center in 2003, with a daily $15 fee. According to The New York Times, vehicle speeds in London would be up to 30 percent slower without this fee, and this decrease in traffic can be correlated to a significant decline in crashes. According to C40, it has also reduced Carbon emissions by 16 percent. In addition, the then current London mayor, Ken Livingstone, said that congestion pricing was the only policy he implemented in his political career that “turned out better than I expected.” By now, most businesses (especially those that deliver products in central London) are accustomed to the new fee, and are willing to pay the extra $15 if it means their products consistently arrive on time.

In New York, congestion pricing would most likely be implemented in the Manhattan area beneath 60th Street. One plan created by Move NY would charge less than $6.00 to enter Lower Manhattan but would still be able to generate $1.5 billion a year and significantly decrease traffic and pollution, according to The New York Times. As to how this would influence the businesses and commuters affected, it is crucial to remember that plans such as that established by Move NY only affect the areas of lower Manhattan, and only the entry into those areas from Upper Manhattan. Most commuters already pay to enter lower Manhattan through bridge or tunnel tolls, taxi fees, and the metrocards, so instating a fee for those entering from upper Manhattan would only equalize it, especially considering a $6.00 toll would be only slightly over the cost for round trip bridge, tunnel, and MTA fees.

Cuomo and de Blasio are currently at a turning point where they can choose to acknowledge and face the congestion and pollution New York City has been creating, or naïvely focus on ineffective but publicly supported policies. In choosing to implement congestion pricing, Cuomo and de Blasio could follow the lead of other major cities of the world, and take a step in decreasing pollution and congestion and promoting environmental sustainability. The net effects of improved city streets and city funding will only benefit every one of its citizens. It is time for our city to make this common-sense choice.